Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-09-17
MARY JAMES TRAVELS.
She and Dickey Hare D"n" with
switzerland.
Special Correspondence J

SCHAFFHAUsEN, Aug. 26.-This is our
last stopping place in Switzerland and am
sorry, because Switzerland is the most de-
| lghtful country in Europe We came in
away down yonder on the Simpi.u. next
door to Italy. and now We go out into Ger
many. snd our trip hither has been q " won-
/ derful panorama. moving by day and wait
ing for us by night. The mighty mountains
never grow Older; the SHOWS are as white,
the Ahj.ne roses As red. and the g2izzlei faces
of the rocks, with their beards Of moss, are as
grim and gray rs they were $50 years ago,
when the Romans came this way and wrote
letters back 10 Rome, just as western
Romans are doing now, and their pre,e
ce-sors of |, so years did before them
We came up 10 Schaffhau>en 10 see the
Falls OF the Rhine. Schaffhausen is kind of
falls parasite. That is TO say, nobody, who
is anybniv. would I've likely TO come to
Schaffhausen unless the falls were here and
if she did, she'd I've sorry for il. The falls
are two miles below town. and we walked
there in the evening to see them illuminated
The night was favorable. and with the lights
PLAYING on til. iashIng waters the effect WAS
beautiful, but had seen GieSsbach by
night, and when one has seen that other
ILLUMINATE ms are entirely secondary.
Much more attractive than the falls illumi-
nation was the illumination by electric light
of the ancient castle of Laufen, on the cracs
above the water The castle looks like a
picture any way, ami when the powerful
light was thrown on II from the farther
shore 1t stood out against the shadows of the
night exactly "a If II were on the screen Of
a magic lantern, and to Us, sitting a quarter
of "A mile away. the effect was so peculiar
that do not hesitate TO recommend il 70 all
who may read these lines.
But Glesshach Falls, on Lake Bri.nz are
the falls TO se-e by candle light" There the
water comes down !. 100 feet in seven falls.
AMI six OF them are fired every night
The lights are IN front, behind and at the
sides of the cataracts, and wheE ;hey begin
TO change color. and streams OF red and blue
and green and white come pouring out Of
the mountain side, far up and tumblinC
down, the scene, according TO the best
authorities, "beggars description" But there
Is no rose without its thorn. and the thorn in
this case is the good looking blonde bear who
conducts the only hotel IN Glessbach. and
whose papa owns the falls and all that apper-
tains thereto. had n row with him, not so
much over his charges over his general
style OF monopollstic independence and the
next time go to Glessbach, if he is there III
leave on the very next boat II there is any
thing l do despise it is a man a woman
can't get along with-or without
i haven't climbed MANY mountains in
Switzerland, because If Is all can do to climb
the stairs in these elev atorless hotels but I
have crossed nearly every lake in the entire
country. The diversified style Of travel here
demands 1t A traveller can't go fifty miles in
Switzerland, don't believe, without putting
into Use every known mode Of Transportation
except the balloon. and l am going to intro
duce that next year. / shall organize the
Mont Blanc and ChamouniX Air line raise
enough money in America to get the engi-
naers TO work. set the boom TO going and at
the proper time sell "u; at a high figure, just
rs the men do, then go and have fun OH the
proceeis-aiso just AS the men do.
But the road will be built. and the wav it
will be done will lie to lay a wire rope from
Chamounix. right along up the mountains,
across the rocks and snow to the summit Of
Mont Bianc, making it fast at each end and
then attaching captive balloon. 1t would
go 10 the other end of the string In slite of
everything, and it would be easy enough to
pull it back again. By my balloon route the
ascent of Mont Blanc will be simple, safe,
inexpensive pleasure, and will entirely Oh
viate the necessity of three days climb over
donkeys, preciplces and ice fields. and will to
great extent ameliorate the condition of
those adventurous persons. mostly English
men, who feel it to be their gospel duty 10
make a toboggan slide of about fourteen
miles of mountainous declivity and land at
the bottom totally unrecognizable mess
ng homes h1vpapa aud blood ~
wants To take stock in the new air line the
books will be open Jan. l.
saw a barefooted boy yesterday and have
felt better ever since. i thought the crop
had been destroyed this year. or something
Possibly We are little early, and it is not
quite ripe Yet. ANY way, have been MOTTO
ing all along the way, in French and Italian
cities, and 1 can't recall any barefootei chill
dren, but can recall seeing very many boys
and girls Of the barefoot age in Rome and
Naples wearing heavy shoes and stockings,
wnile the remainder OF their clothing ap.
Peared u suffer that shoes and stockings
might thrive. tried to find out about this
unusual state Of children's feet from the
guides, but they had been so busy studying
ancient ruins and ajestic art that they had
all overlooked this one little bit OF nature,
W hOiic VA Us thSi SCI llutul
back
The memory of childhood's days
When all Of us could feel
The pleasure Of a sore toe
Or stone bruise on the heel
l have been studying mountains lately, and
do think, next after a man, a mountain Is
the most deceptive thing in nature An
amateur in mountains as | am, can form no
.,Ps =
she is very slow to learn. Distance seerus TO
be out of the count, and real big mountain
shows up about as well, if not better, at
twenty-five miles distance than it does at 100
yards, and when one thinks she will take q
little run over to the mountain side and ell
joy a pleasant climb. she finds she has to start
the day before and cross half q dozen inter-
vening ranges Of hills and valleys as a pre-
hminary to the actual business l did that
at first, but l don't do it any more, and
Yet l am not acquainted with the noun
tains. Coming over one Of the Alpine passes
saw from the summit the town III the valley
We were TO spend the night in, and wanted TO
make a cutoff and tramp to it. 1t looked
as if l might reach it in an hour, and the way
appeared almost straight down the valley.
They didn't let me go, however, and found
out four hours later, when the diligence
reached the town, that the smooth way
thought l saw was covered with huge rocks
cut by gorges, and so shut of by spurs and
precipices that passage was impossible.
tried my best to look back up that valley
from the town. but to save my life l
couldn't, with the best kind of glasses see up
just As | had seen down. The sea is great,
and one feels her httleness as she stands upon
the shore, but the mountains have nearer
greatness and one feels as she stands in the
presence Of their immensity that they are the
very signature of God Almighty written in
his own hand and keyond the pnSsibiIiry of